The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Hydrangea plant botanically known as Hydrangea macrophylla and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name ‘Keiko’.
The new cultivar originated in a controlled breeding program in Kiryu-shi, Japan during June 2011. The objective of the breeding program was the development of Hydrangea cultivars that have double-type florets with a picotee flower color pattern and a compact-upright growth habit.
The new Hydrangea cultivar is the result of cross-pollination. The female (seed) parent of the new cultivar is a proprietary Hydrangea macrophylla breeding selection coded KD10, not patented, characterized by its double-type, lacecap, medium pink-colored inflorescences, dark green-colored foliage, and moderately vigorous, compact-upright growth habit. The male (pollen) parent of the new cultivar is a proprietary Hydrangea macrophylla breeding selection coded K15, not patented, characterized by its single-type, lacecap, pink-colored inflorescences having a picotee flower color pattern, dark green-colored foliage, and moderately vigorous, compact-upright growth habit. The new cultivar was discovered and selected as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the above stated cross-pollination during April 2013 in a controlled environment in in Kiryu-shi, Japan.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by softwood cuttings since June 2014 in Kiryu-shi, Japan has demonstrated that the new cultivar reproduces true to type with all of the characteristics, as herein described, firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of such asexual propagation.